Delhi HC issues notice to Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and AAP leaders in criminal contempt case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notices to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and several other Aam Aadmi Party leaders in a criminal contempt case linked to alleged “vilifying” social media posts against Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma. The court has granted all the accused four weeks to file their responses.

A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja directed the leaders, including Sanjay Singh, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Durgesh Pathak, to respond after taking cognisance of a suo motu contempt matter initiated in relation to social media content targeting the judge.

The court listed the matter for the next hearing on August 4.

The case stems from observations made by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who on May 14 initiated criminal contempt proceedings over allegedly derogatory posts circulated on social media. The posts were linked to the judge’s handling of matters related to the Delhi excise policy case.

Justice Sharma observed that some posts attributed political bias and affiliations to her and also referred to an allegedly edited video of her speech at an educational institution in Varanasi. She noted that such content created a “parallel narrative” around court proceedings.

The judge further stated that silence in such circumstances should not be seen as restraint but as a “surrender before a powerful litigant,” highlighting concerns over targeted online campaigns against the judiciary.

The High Court has given the accused leaders a four-week window to submit their replies. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for August 4, where the court is expected to review the responses and decide further course of action in the criminal contempt proceedings.

The case adds a fresh legal layer to ongoing tensions between AAP leaders and the judiciary in connection with the broader Delhi excise policy case.

Background of the Delhi excise policy case

In a related development earlier, on February 27, a trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 other accused in the Delhi excise policy case, observing that the prosecution’s case could not stand judicial scrutiny.

Later, on April 20, Justice Sharma dismissed recusal applications filed in connection with the CBI’s petition against the discharge order. Following this, Kejriwal, Sisodia and Durgesh Pathak wrote to the judge stating they would not appear before her, invoking “Mahatma Gandhi’s path of Satyagraha.”

With PTI inputs